My new novel, Crunch Time, is the story of four kids who take the SATs. I wrote it partly because I still have nightmares about taking the SATs, but mainly because the issue of competition fascinates me. We judge and are judged all the time, as we try to figure out where we rank in the hierarchy. I am smarter than so and so, not as smart as so and so. More attractive, less successful, funnier, not as rich. The SATs actually give you a number; are you a 1800 or 2400? Does it matter? That's what the four kids of Crunch Time have to decide.